Wednesday, March 02, 2016

Russia Attempting to Short Circuit Indo-American Collaboration on Aircraft Carriers

India will reportedly shortly announce a tendering procedure for building its fourth aircraft carrier. A new Russian project called “Storm”, which was made public last year, is said to be among the frontrunners.

India’s plans to have a new aircraft carrier have been floating around for some time. French defense newsletter TTU reported that a French delegation visited India in late January to propose the naval version of the Dassault Rafale jet to complement its future bid. The US is also eyeing the lucrative contract.

However, according to the Izvestia newspaper, the Russian project is the favorite in the upcoming tender. Russia's Krylovsky State Research Center (KRSC) will be offering its new multipurpose heavy aircraft carrier design called Project 23000E Shtorm (Storm). The project was first revealed to the public in June at the Army-2015 show near Moscow, where a scale model of the ship was exhibited.